The Boys are Back at Somerville House

It’s been almost 20 years since boys have taken up desks in Somerville House classrooms but all that’s about to change as the iconic ‘girls’ school launches its Pre-Prep Program for both boys and girls, following the Easter break.

The school’s brand new, co-educational early learning facility will open its doors on Tuesday 22 April, catering for up to 88 Pre-Prep students aged three and four years.

Principal Flo Kearney said she is looking forward to “welcoming the youngest members of the Somerville House Community” and is “excited by the prospect of bringing boys back to the fold”.

It is a little known fact but Somerville House, widely regarded for its provision of education for girls for over 100 years, provided co-educational schooling up to Year five until the mid-1980s.

Mrs Kearney added, “The strong tradition and heritage of Somerville House as the Landmark in Girls Education will continue. The co-educational curriculum extends only to the new Early Learning Centre and its associated Pre-prep Program with no plans for co-ed rollout in any other areas of the school.”

“Our new Pre-Prep students are set to enjoy state-of-the-art facilities with separate indoor and outdoor learning areas offered by our newly built Early Learning Centre, as well as the full gamut of existing school services and facilities, ” Mrs Kearney said.

The Somerville House Pre-Prep Program aims to instil a love and curiosity of learning in all students through pre-literacy and pre-numeracy development in readiness for formal schooling whilst also incorporating specialist classes in Music, the Arts, Foreign Language and Physical Education.

Somerville House Pre-Prep will run as a full-time, five-day-a-week program from 8.30am to 2.30pm, Monday to Friday in conjunction with school terms, whilst also providing before and after school care. The Early Learning Centre also caters for part time placements. Limited vacancies for 2014 and 2015 are currently available.